Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

2freensel I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Roman Jones This film has a big problem with having too many huge conflicts in one film.Conflict #1 - Character has a horrible family and life in general Alice here has two uncontrollable hellions who, when they aren't screaming about how much they hate her, they're almost getting themselves killed. Her husband is unaware of his surroundings to the point of apparent brain damage. Dude, there is a pot boiling over inches from your head, don't you smile at her all innocently like nothing's amiss, what is wrong with you?Alice is the only responsible person in the house and drags everyone's weight, whether it be her children's abuse or her husband's uselessness, like a beast of burden. To top it off she has a terrible job as a school nurse that she hates as well.All of this is pointing to a nervous breakdown on her part, perhaps a coming-around of her husband and children. This conflict alone would make a solid narrative with a satisfying, if frustrating, structure. Does this happen? No, because...Conflict #2 - Child in Alice's care drowns herselfWow. Um, that came out of nowhere. I see that the reason the kid dies was because A. nasty bitch daughter demanded that Alice leave them alone to find a different bathing suit and Alice like a doormat does as she's told, and B. useless dad was too busy screwing around with the car to see the tiny child wander past him. That is a heap of unnecessary stress on an already stressful story. While this conflict alone would be good as it's own movie - exploring guilt and grief and a broken friendship between two moms - it's pretty spoiled by an already gasping-for-breath stressful setting. Okay, maybe this can be salvaged.Conflict #3 - Alice is wrongly accused of molesting one of the studentsWhat. The. Fudge. Wait, this has nothing to do with the previous two plot lines? Why is this here? ANY of these three conflicts would be enough to cause a nervous breakdown in a normal person and deserve to be explored individually. Lumping them on top of each other like a precarious ice cream cone does none of these serious issues justice.Alice isn't strong - she's the butt of a sick cosmic joke. She's the universe's doormat and she doesn't have the guts to demand better. Three stars for Julianne Moore.

rtbond Here's yet another nod to composer, arranger and musician/performer Pat Metheny (sans the Group, as was incorrectly identified in another review). On this soundtrack, Metheny is accompanied by an unidentified chamber orchestra (percussion, violin, harp, flute, viola, cello, horn, bass, clarinet and the talented Gil Goldstein on organ).Mostly variations on the title track, these melodic interpretations are quite eloquent (as one would come to expect from both Metheny & PMG), but arranged such that they never overtake the scene in which they are scored. Metheny contributes his own brilliant lead acoustic guitars, as well as piano and keyboards, with an overall combined feel of his previous Secret Story and Beyond the Missouri Sky releases.A warm, introspective journey, this set of 28 tunes (6 less than a minute long and another 10 less than 2 minutes) are well-crafted and are worthy for a listen on a Sunday morning with coffee, in front of the fireplace with a nice bottle of wine or a drive in the country, esp. for those in the midwestern US.

Jen_UK I really tried so hard to like this film - but in the end I had to concede: we did not get on. It turned out to be one of the most disappointing pieces of 'drama' I've seen in a long time. The script is terribly hammy, in fact there are some truly apalling moments (the worst being Sigourney Weaver's declaration 'let's go on Oprah!' - I still can't work out if that was a joke) The acting (with one notable exception) is pretty mediocre, which is not helped by formulaic, humdrum direction and some truly shocking child actors. Why give kids who can't act dialogue? It undermines the dramatic potential of a film. As an aspiring screenwriter, I am constantly told to 'make every scene earn its place in your film' - well, there are countless here that could have been omitted. I have seen better made for TV films. The whole thing seems a terribly overlong excersise in 'how can we pull on the heartstrings of the Academy voters?' Luckily even they chose not to acknowledge it. 'A Map of the World' has, as I said, one redeeming feature: the presence of the gorgeous, versatile Julianne Moore. Her compelling scene of emotional breakdown following the death of her child in the woods is, in my opinion, worth the price of the film alone. What a shame that they didn't cast her in the lead role. With mediocre material like this, the only hope of transcending it is with a gifted actress of Julianne's talents - however I fear that even she could not have saved it. One to avoid - but worth it (just) for Julianne Moore.

tedg Spoilers herein.The book played with narrative: the narrator accepted bad things happening to her because she wanted them. It was an experience that is missed here.Weaver isn't quite up to this. She tries valiantly, but the director gives her no help. he doesn't understand what made the book work. Straithorn does well in spite of it all. But the real gem here is Julianne Moore. I'll follow her into any theater. She makes a great film here in the background when the director isn't watching.